As Belgium has further tightened its migration policies amid intensifying anti-migrant narratives, MSF has scaled up advocacy efforts. MSF is calling for effective access to health care for all, adequate reception conditions, and full respect for national, European Union, and international legal obligations, including for people held in administrative detention.
Belgium 2023 © Marin Driguez/Agence VU'/MSF
Belgium
Working with refugees and migrants in Belgium since 2017
Our work in Belgium
In Belgium, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) offers medical and psychological support to migrants and refugees, while calling on the government to fulfill its obligations to them.
What's happening in Belgium?
Belgium continues to be both a destination and a transit country for refugees and migrants in Europe. In 2025, around 34,400 people applied for international protection in Belgium, a 14 percent decrease compared to 2024. Despite this decrease, reception conditions have remained critically overstretched. Persistent shortages in accommodations and support services leave thousands of asylum seekers without shelter, including survivors of conflict, persecution, and torture. Undocumented migrants and people excluded from reception face serious barriers to housing and health care, increasing the risk of illness and mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
How we're helping in Belgium
Throughout 2025, our teams in Brussels, Belgium’s capital, provided medical consultations and psychological care, including health promotion activities, and strengthened infection prevention and control measures.
We also consolidated our network of medical volunteers who provide second medical opinions for people held in administrative detention centers across the country, helping to document health needs and protection concerns.
How we're helping
1,960
Outpatient consultations
49
Individual mental health consultations
740
Mental health consultations provided in group sessions
1987
Year MSF first worked in Belgium
*Data from MSF International Activity Report 2025
More news and stories
Learn about MSF’s journalistic roots and our commitment to bear witness and speak out about the plight of the people we treat.
Learn about MSF’s journalistic roots and our commitment to bear witness and speak out about the plight of the people we treat.
How you can help
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